What You Can Do With Your Career as an APRN

Nursing is a very vibrant career that you can do a lot with. You can work as a nurse in almost any industry and in every country and state around the world. There are barriers, of course, those being the legal restrictions and licensing requirements you will need to adhere to in order to operate as an APRN.

The good news is that, though there are definitely barriers, overcoming them is incredibly straightforward. There is a large nursing shortage that is only going to get worse as time goes on and the existing RNs and APRNs that operate today start to retire.

Not only is there a large population of nurses set to retire soon, but there are also more roles and more opportunities than ever before. Working as a nurse has never been so exciting, but if you are currently in the role, then you owe it to yourself to take your career to the next level.

Working as an APRN means being at the top of your field. At the moment, it requires an MSN in your given specialty, but in the future, you may need to further your education into a doctorate. Those plans are still in discussion, however, so you don’t need to fret just yet. Regardless, you will still need to earn your MSN, so use this guide to help you decide on which specialty is right for you and to understand what career opportunities exist for you as an APRN today:

The Top APRN Specializations to Consider

There are many, many great roles that you can work in as an APRN. You can work as a nurse practitioner, a clinical nurse specialist, a nurse anesthetist, or a nurse-midwife. When it comes to NPs and CNSs, however, you can specialize even further.

Just a few of the top specializations to consider include:

Family Nurse Practitioner

One of the best and most rewarding nursing roles in the country is that of the Family Nurse Practitioner. FNP nurses work with the entire family, from babies to seniors, and provide primary care in clinics directly to their communities. In some states, they can even operate and manage their own clinic, though you will need to check in advance before you start planning to open your own business.

To become an FNP nurse, you simply need to hold an existing RN license, have enough hours under your belt, and have graduated with a BSN degree. Once you have these requirements, you will then be able to start and progress through a top FNP program at TWU.

As an FNP, you diagnose, prescribe medication, treat, and provide preventative and holistic care. In many states, FNP nurses are used to offsetting the shortage of primary care physicians, so you can understand the power and potential of this career route.

Nurse Midwife

An emerging specialization is as a nurse-midwife. Unlike traditional midwives who worked holistically and through oral training, nurse midwives combine that holistic, personal touch with medical expertise and knowledge. Many couples and single expecting parents are now relying on midwives to guide them through their pregnancy and to deliver their babies, even in their own homes. This is because there is renewed distrust in modern medicine, particularly in the unnatural methods used to deliver babies that gained popularity years ago and is now already falling out of fashion.

Becoming a nurse midwife means being able to offer patients the comfort of a natural birth with a greater medical guarantee. You will be able to spot and know immediately if a patient giving birth needs to be taken to the hospital and be able to provide on-site care until they get there.

Nurse Anesthetist

If you are interested in becoming an APRN for their high salaries, then look into becoming a nurse anesthetist. They earn the highest and operate alongside surgeons and dentists alike to provide the anesthesia necessary for the patient.
 
If you Operate in an eNLC State

There are so many great specializations to consider when earning your MSN, but don’t just think about the area of medicine; think about where you will work. If you started out in a state that is either part of the Nurse Licensure Compact or will be soon, then you have a lot of options ahead of you. What this compact means is that you can easily move from one state to another and exchange your license without having to take the test again.

You can travel as a nurse and take on many more interesting roles.

Working in Healthcare

There are new opportunities opening up in healthcare all the time, and not just for in-person roles. Telehealth has come far in the past few years, and great nurses, particularly FNPs, are going to be essential in offering services to those in rural communities through telehealth services.

In healthcare, there are also a greater number of specializations and more states than ever looking into providing FNPs with autonomy and the ability to open and manage their own practice.

Working Outside of Healthcare

Don’t assume you have to work within a healthcare setting as a nurse, however. You can work in entertainment, you can train future nurses by working in education, and you can even work in research. In fact, human health is such a universal part of the society that you can technically work in any industry, provided there is a need and the budget to hire an on-site nurse.

This opens up your possibilities and means that the sky is the limit. All you need to get started is to explore what is out there. A good way to do this is to look up job boards and set up alerts. Not every job role is going to be posted, but when first starting out, this can help you discover your options.

Don’t be afraid to apply, even if you don’t have all of the soft qualifications they are looking for. Hard qualifications like having the right license are non-negotiable from a legal standpoint, but other than that, there is no reason not to leap.

This is a guest blog entry.